Join us for a special Master Class with IDA’s 2014 Preservation and Scholarship Award recipient, director Rithy Panh, whose powerful and artful films over the past 25 years have explored the complex nature of memory and tragedy in Cambodian society following the devastating effects of the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror in the 1970s. In 2013, Panh’s singularly original documentary The Missing Picture was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film. For this unique class, we will be screening Rithy’s 2003 award-winning feature documentary S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine, followed by the eight-minute shortBophana: Shadows and Lights, which details the vital work of the Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center, co-founded by Rithy in Phnom Penh in 2006. Following the films, Rithy will be in conversation with Ken Jacobson, IDA’s Director of Educational Programs and documentary programmer at the Palm Springs International Film Festival; the event will conclude with time for audience Q&A.
This is a rare opportunity for Southern California filmmakers and documentary enthusiasts to experience first-hand Rithy’s remarkable documentary vision in an informal, intimate atmosphere at the IDA office.
Please note: This Master Class is being offered free of charge on a first come, first served basis to IDA members only. Sign up today to reserve your spot, as space is limited.
The IDA thanks uniFrance for its generous support of Rithy Panh’s travel to Los Angeles.
S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003) – 101 min.
Rithy Panh’s riveting 2003 film shows the strength and courage of survivors of the Cambodian genocide as they confront their former torturers. Panh focuses on the Khmer Rouge’s central prison, S21, where the Khmer Rouge photographed, interrogated, tortured and executed more than 16,000 people. To tell the story of what happened at S21, Panh brings together remaining survivors of the prison with former guards and interrogators who worked there. Victim becomes prosecutor, as Vann Nath who survived because of his skill as a painter, sits across a dilapidated desk from one of his former torturers.
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "This devastating, elegantly simple documentary about the ravages of the communist regime in Cambodia during the 1970s testifies not only to human dignity and resilience but to cinema at its most intellectually honest and morally necessary."
Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times: "There's so much power in Mr. Vann Nath's artwork, and its nightmarish understatement, that we instantly understand why Mr. Rithy Panh made him a central figure in this unforgettable story."
Built into the Master Class will be a generous amount of time for Q&A.
The use of cameras, audio recording devices, and video recording devices is prohibited at Doc U events.